Deadline looms for prepaid mobile users in Thailand to register

[KittenKong]

I registered my SIM card for free with the True shop in my local BigC ages ago. It took them about 2 minutes.

The advantage for me being that if I lose the phone/card I can easily block the lost one and get a new card issued and retain my number.

[lujanit]

110 million mobile phones for a population of 65 million people, how many do you have ?

Every bargirl knows that you must have several phones to keep the 'sponsors' away from each other if you get my drift.

[Sviss Geez]

"Well it’s all to do with preventing use of mobile prepaid phones in situations related to national security.""

Welcome to North Korea's and China's best friend. The country once called Land of the Free.

"Welcome to North Korea's and China's best friend. The country once called Land of the Free."

Think you're getting mixed up with the US there.

What issue do you have with registering who you are in order to have a phone service? Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

[smedly]

it is a very interesting move and has some good points concerning crime, next time you call your yogurt dealer for a delivery remember not only will the police have a number but also your identity and if they get caught they are no longer just random numbers

The downside of this is be careful who you are friendly with

[Sviss Geez]

If the companies have ignored the law in the past then why is it not up to them to right the wrong that they have created, why should it now be left to the customer to put things right ?

110 million mobile phones for a population of 65 million people, how many do you have ?

How do you propose the phone companies register our phones, do they guess our names, addresses and passport/ID numbers? I suppose in reality they should disconnect illegally (unregistered) provided service. Would you be happy about that?

Edited January 22, 2015 by Sviss Geez

[Sviss Geez]

Self-registration could easily be handled online. Enter your personal data, scan your passport or ID, done! But no, in Thailand, they always make everything as difficult as possible. Do you expect clerks at 7/11, Tesco and Big C to understand how to register someone online? Most of them can't even figure out how to enter a utility bill payment. This is going to be one big FAIL!

Dtac, Ais, and True shops all know how to do it.

[Sviss Geez]

I've lost count of the amount of times I have had to register mine over the years. Why are we having to do so again?

You don't have to do it again if you're already registered.

[smedly]

They should be offering a service (sms) to let people know they have registered already (I think I have)

[Sviss Geez]

Every time they come up with something really stupid you say this has got to be the stupidest one, and then they surprise you with something even more stupid

Just help out us stupid people, how is registering phones to those who legitimately use the service the "stupidest" idea?

[Sviss Geez]

They should be offering a service (sms) to let people know they have registered already (I think I have)

They do offer this service, call them and they'll tell you.

[bdenner]

Last October I had to have my old AIS SIM replaced as the frequency was no longer supported. Easy process and kept my number BUT yes, it had to be registered and they took a photo copy of my drivers license as well.

I have since bought a TrueMove H 3G SIM for a Dongle and it was not registered.

[brewsterbudgen]

Every time they come up with something really stupid you say this has got to be the stupidest one, and then they surprise you with something even more stupid

Just help out us stupid people, how is registering phones to those who legitimately use the service the "stupidest" idea?

Indeed. I fail to see why this is stupid. But, hey, it's another thread on which to indulge in some therapeutic Thai bashing!

[Robroona]

"Well its all to do with preventing use of mobile prepaid phones in situations related to national security.""

Welcome to North Korea's and China's best friend. The country once called Land of the Free.

I hate it when people reply to this sort of thread by saying " but it could happen anywhere". Well, it happened to me in Italy 3 years back, so Thailand isn't the first

[Sviss Geez]

Every time they come up with something really stupid you say this has got to be the stupidest one, and then they surprise you with something even more stupid

Not really, it no longer is a surprise. You just roll your eyes and say over and over, This is Thailand. We come to expect stupid because it is the essence of Thainess.

We come to expect stupid because it is the essence of some ThaiVisa members, this is nothing to do with "Thainess".

[Sviss Geez]

Does being signed up to the AIS e service (which would not accept my passport number so used my daughter's id No) count as registering ?

And here is the problem. Foreigners without work permits can register a mobile SIM card?

Yes, of course they can.

[Sviss Geez]

Just so I get that right: friends come over to Thailand, want to buy a SIM at 7eleven and will have to register for the time of a -let's say- 10 day holiday!?

If they want a phone service why shouldn't they register and why would they have an issue with doing that?

[Sviss Geez]

There seems to be a lot of people here very nervous and wary about registering their details for a phone service, I wonder why that would rationally be?

[jvs]

Years ago this was also an issue,if you did not register your sim-card you would be disconnected.I did,being the good citizen i am.

A friend of mine along with most other people did not and guess what?nothing happened!

I will not register this time and just wait and see,if they do cut off my service i will just go buy a new sim-card and register it then.

It makes me wonder in the future what will be worth more,a stolen phone or the card inside?

It won't stop people who are serious about committing a crime using a phone,how many phones get stolen everyday?

Of course if the government wants to listen in on conversations it makes sense,other countries do.

[Sviss Geez]

it is a very interesting move and has some good points concerning crime, next time you call your yogurt dealer for a delivery remember not only will the police have a number but also your identity and if they get caught they are no longer just random numbers

The downside of this is be careful who you are friendly with

If you do use yoghurt you've only got yourself to blame if it backfires on you.

[Sviss Geez]

The enforcement of this legislation may help to clean up some filthy areas of Bangkok, for example Sukhumvit 13. Anyone find fault with that?

[chooka]

Does being signed up to the AIS e service (which would not accept my passport number so used my daughter's id No) count as registering ?

And here is the problem. Foreigners without work permits can register a mobile SIM card?

Yes, of course they can.

I had to put my Thai one in my wife's name. AIS wouldn't allow me to have an account in my name as I am a foreigner.

[ultimate weapon]

The enforcement of this legislation may help to clean up some filthy areas of Bangkok, for example Sukhumvit 13. Anyone find fault with that?

why? don't see the correlation.

[ultimate weapon]

I wonder if they will be able to handle the process since there will be so many people rushing to register. I wonder how many ppl will lose their phone numbers and the credit inside their sim cards since they probably will be missing the deadline.

One of the plus points of not registering is that people start to buy sim cards for causal use and i bet many thais/foreigners do that and that is why they have so many thai cell phone numbers in circulation.

[PoorSucker]

I had to put my Thai one in my wife's name. AIS wouldn't allow me to have an account in my name as I am a foreigner.

AIS let me register in my name, I am a foreigner.

[PS2]

The enforcement of this legislation may help to clean up some filthy areas of Bangkok, for example Sukhumvit 13. Anyone find fault with that?

why? don't see the correlation.

Problems registering with your passport when on overstay?

[WhizBang]

Does being signed up to the AIS e service (which would not accept my passport number so used my daughter's id No) count as registering ?

And here is the problem. Foreigners without work permits can register a mobile SIM card?

Why would I need a work permit to register a sim card?

[bendejo]

Malaysia has had this for years, they wouldn't sell you a SIM unless you registered, and they were serious about it, would register you online right when you bought it. No money business.

The cell phone is a favorite detonation device with the bomb-throwers in the south, so this may be good.

Edited January 22, 2015 by bendejo

[dragonfly94]

Nothing to do with national security, they just don't want freedom of speech

[Langsuan Man]

Well this thread encouraged me to log into my DTAC account and according to it my SIM is already " registered ' . The question that I have is this DTAC registration enough for the government, since the only information that DTAC has is my phone number and email address. No other personal information is contained in my " profile "

[bendejo]

110 million mobile phones for a population of 65 million people, how many do you have ?

Every bargirl knows that you must have several phones to keep the 'sponsors' away from each other if you get my drift.

Ah, so that's who buys all those dual-sim phones!